Bob Geary

Perhaps being born in the tough working class area of Point St-Claire (The Point) of Montreal explains why Bob Geary went on to become one of the toughest players in the CFL. Geary graduated from Montreal Catholic High School in 1949, but had problems making the Alouettes under the coaching of Douglas Peahead Walker who didn't have a lot of use for Canadians. Instead, Geary, who played Guard on both offense and defense, went West and played three years for the Calgary Stampeders (1955-57). Geary was traded back to Montreal, and played two seasons for Walker in 1958 and 1959. A knee injury caused Geary to miss most of 1960, and he played with the Intermediate Verdun Sham-Cats in 1961. Geary returned to the Alouettes under Perry Moss for 1962 and 1963. After being cut in 1964, Geary finished his career in 1964 with the Quebec Rifles of the United Football League under Sam Etcheverry (the Rifles would later move to Toronto as part of the Continental Football League). After retiring as a player, Geary coached the Verdun Invictus for four years (1965-68) before rejoining the Alouettes as an Assistant Coach in 1969. Geary remained with Montreal when Sam Berger bought the team in 1970 and installed Red O'Qunn as GM and Sam Etcheverry as Head Coach.. In 1972, when J.I. Albrecht took over as GM, Geary moved to the Als front office to become his assistant. Geary was also Assistant GM under Marv Levy in 1974, and then took over as General Manager in 1975 to allow Levy to concentrate more on coaching. Geary served as GM of the Alouettes from 1975 to 1981. In 1982, Geary became the Director of Football Operations for Montreal as Joe Galat took over the dual roles of GM and Head Coach. Bob Geary passed away on February 17, 2001.